MICHAEL TANNER applauds Jonas Kaufmann’s aria
recital
JONAS KAUFMANN is on ideal form in Mozart and Wagner under CLAUDIO ABBADO

Jonas
Kaufmann is the German tenor we have been waiting for, though at present he
is singing more Italian and French opera. This disc, which has the luxury of
Claudio Abbados magisterial, refined conducting, shows that Kaufmann is at
least as fine a Mozart singer as a Wagner one, with a marvellous lengthy
excerpt from Die Zauberflöte making one wish this was a complete recording.
Kaufmann maintains a flawless legato, within which he articulates the sense
of the text. This is ideal singing.

In the extended Wagner excerpts he displays an almost baritonal quality, but
then most of the greatest Wagner tenors have. His outburst from Act II of
Parsifal, though dreadfully wrenched from context, is a thrilling foretaste
of things to come, and is helped by having the excellent Margarete Joswig
singing Kundry’s few words. With Lohengrin’s Narration Kaufmann becomes
hieratic and withdrawn, Abbado’s accompaniment especially fine here. In
Florestan’s great aria from Fidelio we have a perfectly controlled
expression of agony and exaltation. Everything here makes you crave to
listen to this major artist in complete recordings, preferably, given his
acting, on DVD. The bonus DVD interview reveals that he is thoughtful and
intelligent — too much so for the packaging he is provided here.